Crying Uncle
American TV's Uncle Walter died at a grand old age five years ago, bringing to an end the media's obsequies for Michael Jackson, who'd expired a couple of weeks earlier. But the farewells to Cronkite were an elegy for an entire industry - and to mass culture itself. This essay was first published in Maclean's: On the face of it—and on the face of them—Michael Jackson and Walter Cronkite would not appear to have much in common. Cronkite was (all together now) "the most trusted man in America"; ... |
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SteynPostsDemocrats Then and Now
Yesterday Hugh Hewitt marked the 14th anniversary of his radio show and the 32nd anniversary of his wedding. So we began the show by playing and discussing Mr and Mrs Hewitt's favorite song "The Way You Look Tonight", which as our-song songs go is pretty hard to beat. It's one of many Dorothy Fields numbers explored in Mark Steyn's American Songbook (personally autographed copies of which are exclusively available from the Steyn store). I would have been happy to chew over Fred Astaire and ... SteynPostsInterfaith Exchanges
Later today I'll be keeping my weekly radio date with Hugh Hewitt, live coast to coast at 6pm Eastern/3pm Pacific. We'll be talking about the evaporation of American sovereignty at the southern border and all the other hot topics. ~An interesting photograph has surfaced of returning war hero Bowe Bergdahl and one of his captors, the eponymous Haqqani hotshot Badar'udin Haqqani. Believers regard infidels as unclean - that's why at Guantanamo each new detainee's Koran is presented to him by ... On the AirWorld Cup Latest: Gays or Jews?
I started the day with John Oakley on Toronto's Number One morning show. We discussed Obama and the evaporation of the southern border - America's southern border, that is; on Canada's southern border, the US seems to be operating a policy that the more lax things get on the Rio Grande the more ruthlessly they make up for it on the 49th parallel. But along the way we also chewed over competing subtexts to the World Cup: a Russian Orthodox priests says the cleats are flamingly homosexual, while ... SteynPostsBill of Sale
Toronto Dominion is a Canadian bank which also operates south of the border under the amusing name of "TD - America's Most Convenient Bank®". It's certainly proved remarkably convenient for Bill Clinton. TD has paid millions to the future first First Gentleman of the United States, during his wife's tenure as Secretary of State and in her ongoing role as designated President-in-Waiting. What exactly are they paying for? Speeches? He's less dull a public speaker than the average politician, or ... Mark's MailboxMore Than A Warmin'
Thanks for another jolly mountain of missives on diverse topics, some of which we'll leave till later in the week. However, here's a question I don't get asked very often, especially from Lubumbashi - or, as we Belgian imperialists, like to think of it, Élisabethville: Dear Mark, I live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and have neither seen or heard you. However, I love your writing. As with many movies, the book is always better. Should I download you now, or leave it to my imagination? ... |
SteynPostsThe Holes We Dig
Via Kathy Shaidle, I see that today is Courtney Love's 50th birthday. She's not my bag musically, but I treasure her for one brief exchange about a decade and a half ago. Circa 1998, Miss Love, lead singer of the popular beat combo Hole, was at a Democrat fundraiser in Hollywood when the party's presumptive presidential nominee, Al Gore, approached her. "I'm a really big fan," gushed the Vice-President. "Yeah, right," scoffed Courtney. "Name a song." The panicked Vice-Panderer floundered ... SteynPostsThe Challenges of Diversity
Texas Governor Rick Perry is being criticized for declining to greet President Obama at Austin-Bergstrom Airport tomorrow when Air Force One touches down and the bazillion-car motorcade takes off for some vital Democrat fundraisers. Perry instead would like a substantive meeting to discuss the foreign invasion currently ongoing at Texas' southern border, but Obama doesn't do substantive meetings, and in any case, as the principal facilitator of the southern invasion, any discussions between him ... Steyn's Song of the WeekFly Me To The Moon
I wouldn't want June to recede too far into the rear mirror without noting that it marked the 50th anniversary of a great and historic recording that, before the Sixties were out, burst the bounds of the planet. In June 1964, Frank Sinatra and Count Basie were in the studio making their second album together, It Might As Well Be Swing. The arranger was Quincy Jones, and his work for the set included a chart Frank kept in the act all the way to his very last concert... Steyn on CultureNew Balls
I was sorry to see my compatriot Eugénie Bouchard lose in the Wimbledon ladies' final. A Montrealer, she's named after the Queen's granddaughter, Princess Eugenie, yet bears the illustrious francophone surname of the former future président de la république himself... Mann vs SteynFootball and HockeyThe Corner post that launched a lawsuit... |
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